EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.—If the Minnesota Vikings are to excel in the more difficult half of their schedule, they must remember that Adrian Peterson, not Christian Ponder, is the face of the franchise and the centerpiece upon which all other pieces have been assembled.

They can’t afford a repeat of the first quarter of Thursday’s 36-17 loss to Tampa Bay at Mall of America Field. The Bucs led 10-0 before the Vikings had recorded a first down or handed the ball to Peterson on consecutive plays.

Adrian Peterson is coming off knee reconstruction, but the Vikings running back remains as dangerous as ever. (AP Photo)

The first time they gave Peterson the ball on consecutive plays, he went 11 yards up the middle and then 11 more up the middle. But rather than give him a third shot, Ponder dropped backed to pass, scrambled for his safety and gained a yard. Then Ponder completed a 4-yard pass that Jerome Simpson fumbled away.

At halftime, Ponder had dropped back to pass 20 times while Peterson had run the ball only 10 times. The team isn’t built to win that way. Continuing down this path will be disastrous, especially as the team embarks on a month of games that has it visiting Seattle, Chicago and Green Bay.

The Vikings are 5-3 and scrambling this week to repair their leaky blitz protection schemes after Arizona and Tampa Bay put it on film that Ponder simply can’t handle the pressure right now. And as bad luck would have it, the Vikings are heading to Seattle, one of the toughest venues to protect a quarterback.

Fortunately for the Vikings, they have a perfect blitz-beater: Peterson. Try some draws, power plays up the middle and screens to Peterson.

Whatever the game plan is, just remember that this team is built around Peterson. The same Peterson who’s back from knee reconstruction, leading the league in rushing, averaging 5.1 yards per carry and is on pace for a 1,500-yard season.